Page 35 of Border Control

“And once you calm down, you’ll be able to sense them,” Dom chips in. He takes Nevare under his arm, his brother’s gray eyes distant and his body lax as he leans on Dom. It's as if he’s distracted listening to something whilst Dom lifts him, because Nevare doesn’t seem to notice. Dom guides him across the gravel to the lean-to, Nevare's feet dragging.

I check if any of the scattered stones came close to my BMW, casting my eye across the bodywork.

That’s when I see it. A fuck-off huge great big spider, perched on my wing mirror and admiring itself in the reflection of the driver's window. The hand-sized bulbous thing has lots of layers, like a mound of scales or a succulent plant, and with about twenty long thin emerald legs waving above it.

“Dom, what are you searching for?” I'm amazed my voice comes out as even as it does.

He winces as he lays Nevare down, not looking me in the eye. “Our pet. A plant we found offworld.”

“And does it have dark green spindly leaves on one side, light purple on the other?”

His head jerks up sharply. “Yes. Where is it?”

I point at my car. “It better not scratch my paintwork.”

Dom scrambles over, then shoots me a grateful look. “Thank you, Law-rah.” He holds out his hand for the spider, and it crawls over to him.

Frack, I nearly jump out of my skin. “What is it?”

“A Sanitatum. They are something between an animal and a plant, a species we found as part of Ilia's crew while looking for new plantlife across the galaxy. They’re not from Oloria originally, but we breed them because they respond to telepathic energies like Nevare’s, so Oloria uses them to gauge the strength of a telepathic clone.”

It waves its thin arms, like the pencil-thick tendrils around Dom’s cock. Those things slid around like slow snakes, leakingwhite fluid in ropes of lubricant around his thick, ridged cock, all studded and spined.

To be honest, thinking of his ‘sexual organs,’ as he called them, fills me with a mixture of… well, Christmas has come early, because Planet of the Pirate Prince is one of my favorite book series. EspeciallySacrificed to the Tentacle Terror. Above all I have a quivery feeling, because this is real.

Dom straightens up with the plant in his hand. It's animated, stems and leaves quivering like it's happy to see him. A quick glance at Nevare shows he's relaxed, just relieved to find his pet.

“Can I take a closer look?” I ask Dom.

He holds it out to me with no hesitation, but I can't quite bring myself to touch it. The waving stalks slow, then still.

“Don't be afraid,” Dom says quietly. Is he speaking to me, or the plant?

“I'm not scared.” Okay, maybe a little.

His brow creases, but he doesn't argue with me. “Shade won't hurt you, Law-rah. It responds to powerful mental energies and emotions, feeding off them harmlessly. Here.”

He strokes one hand down the plant’s leaves, and it shivers with a rattle.

“Now you try,” he says.

I'm really not sure about this, but Dom hasn't steered me wrong yet. Hovering the tip of my finger over, I tell myself to just get on with it.

“I promise you won't be hurt.” His amethyst eyes burn with intensity, holding mine. “I won't let that happen.”

“O…okay.” Warmth chases around my body like the sun has come out from behind a cloud.

I stroke the plant-spider thing’s long appendage, and it shivers a little.

“Good,” Dom encourages me, and I bite my lip at the sudden pulse of heat in my core from his praise. Clamping my thighstogether, I focus on stroking the plant, not the secret kink he unknowingly touched off in me.

He tips it into my palm, his big hand warm where he brushes mine. The plant waves, and I have an urge to wave back as it wraps itself around my index finger. It's moving slowly, like it knows I'm wary, the fibers warmer than I expected in vegetation.

“Dom, Arik, Nevare.” Ilia comes crunching up the yard. “Ellen wants you to prepare for a part-tee… what is that Sanitatum doing here?”

Dom flinches, pulling his hands to his sides and staring above my head. “Sorry, Ilia, I know it's not on the manifest list. We brought it.” His face never wavers as he says, “I'll submit to any punishment. It's my fault, and mine alone.”

Ilia lets out a low breath, giving the creature in my hands a long-suffering look.